SPHINX 101 - Changelog Analog Realism https://analogrealism.com ======================================= v1.8.1 - 2026-09-11 - Hotfix for APY EQ frequency knobs Fixed: - With the APY circuit selected, the EQ module's frequency knobs stayed at fixed frequencies regardless of the knob position. The frequency controls now work correctly on the APY EQ. Gain, Sharp, and all other EQ controls were unaffected. - The APY circuit's built-in console output iron now resets its magnetic state when the host stops and restarts the audio stream, like the other transformers do. Previously a stopped session could carry a small amount of magnetic history into the next playback. - The APY circuit's built-in iron now responds to the Device Age control and to the modeled chassis temperature, like every other transformer core. At the default Age setting the change is at the threshold of measurability. - Test coverage extended: every EQ circuit and band now has a dedicated frequency-tracking verification in the shipped test set, and the APY iron's lifecycle and aging behavior are verified against the other transformer cores. v1.8.0 - 2026-09-10 - APY circuit and A2503 transformer New: - APY main circuit added. An American discrete op-amp recording console that carries its own inline output-transformer iron. Its low-end grit falls as you drive harder, the signature of this class of hardware. Fast and punchy with an iron-forward low end. - A2503 transformer model added to the input and output transformers. A known console output core with the highest headroom of the five models, sitting between the iron trio and the transparent L1544. - APY circuit option added to the Filter, Sub Comp, HF Comp, Compressor, and EQ modules. The compressor APY is an FET feedback design with a low-frequency-weighted detector. The EQ APY is a proportional-Q design where the bandwidth narrows as boost increases. - VST3 users: the new circuit options extend the selector ranges. Existing VST3 automation lanes written for circuit selectors should be checked after updating. AU sessions should be unaffected. Fixed: - Reported latency at 16x oversampling was one sample short. Hosts now delay-compensate exactly at every oversampling setting, and null tests align sample-accurately at 16x. - Parameter smoothing now runs in constant time at every oversampling setting. Automation and knob moves at 8x and 16x feel the same as at 2x. - Test reports expanded to cover the APY circuits and the A2503 transformer alongside the existing options. - Documentation accuracy improvements. v1.7.0 - 2026-09-03 - AAX Support New: - Avid AAX support added. v1.6.9 - 2026-08-29 - Oversampling low-end fix Fixed: - Selecting oversampling settings above 2x might have thinned the low-end response. Now low-end stays full with any OS position. v1.6.8 - 2026-08-25 - Longer demo auditioning, mono LEDs, knob undo fixes Fixed: - On mono instances the right-side LED column now stays dark instead of mirroring the left side. - Alt+Click knob undo could jump to a wrong old value for example when DAW automation had moved the knob. It now always reverts back to the actual user-resulted value in that specific plugin instance. Loading a preset starts a fresh undo point at those loaded values. Improved: - Demo mode: the short silence break now occurs about every 2 minutes instead of about every 1.5 minutes, so auditioning is less interrupted. - Built-in guide updated: window resizing, skins, presets, technical statements. v1.6.7 - 2026-08-14 - Window resize stability and knob refinements Fixed: - Window resize bug, that could cause visible jumping or twitching while dragging the resize corner in some hosts, most noticeably at smaller window sizes and cursor near the bottom. Improved: - Enlarged the resize corner area, making the window easier to grab and resize. - Refined knob images for smoother circular rotation. - VU meter needles better visual contrast and responses. v1.6.6 - 2026-08-11 - Transformer safe-guard enhancements Fixed: - Extended the post-playback silence with DAWs to include minimum-drive transformer settings also, so that both input and output transformer stages are now fenced across their full drive ranges against audible bumps or other physics-based after-stuff. The issue was, that some drive settings might have caused an after-stop low bump when the electronics aligned perfectly. v1.6.5 - 2026-08-10 - GUI Stretch twitch fix Fixed: - Stretching the GUI size in a faster or rapid manner could cause visual twitching. It's now smoothed. v1.6.4 - 2026-08-08 - Stretchable Interface, AGE Selector, Fourth EQ Band, Ratio Controls New: - Freely stretchable interface: drag the handle in the lower right corner to resize the plugin smoothly to any size, replacing the four fixed size buttons. The aspect ratio stays locked, everything scales together, and each plugin instance remembers its own size independently. - RATIO control on the Compressor, Sub Compressor, and HF Compressor: 1:1 up to 12:1. Each circuit realizes the setting through its own electronics, the way the real hardware classes do: the VCA circuit tracks the dial closely, the diode bridge rounds off the top of the range, the dual-detector circuit keeps its fixed peak limiter riding above the setting so gentle ratios still catch peaks hard, and the vari-mu compresses progressively harder than the dial as its feedback loop drives itself, behaving like a peak limiter at the top of the range. - Fourth EQ band: a second mid band, MID LOW, covering 200 Hz to 12 kHz with the same range and behavior as the existing mid band. Both mid bands interact the way two real sections of each EQ circuit do, including when set to overlapping frequencies. - AGE selector on the Output module: four positions of physically modeled component aging. Position 1 is a factory-fresh unit with slightly tighter tolerances and lower drift, position 2 is the unit exactly as previous versions shipped it and remains the default, and positions 3 and 4 age the electronics progressively: wider component drift, stronger dielectric absorption, drier power supply capacitors with more ripple, softer transformer iron, and a warmer noise floor, all within calibrated limits. This is a separate dimension from the TrueRail A/B/C tolerance tiers and combines freely with them. Fixed: - Knob value readouts now appear mostly below the knobs instead of above, so they no longer cover the control names printed on the faceplate. - Very fast repeated switching of the circuit, TrueRail tier, or AGE selector between audio blocks could bypass the protective mute window, causing an audible click, and in rare cases leave internal component values slightly off until the next switch. Both switching paths now always apply inside the mute window, verified by a new automated stress test that hammers every control while audio is running. - A quiet low-frequency settling event could occur about a second after playback stops, at very low level but potentially noticeable on full-range monitoring at high gain. The underlying transformer magnetization behavior is unchanged, but its settling is now shaped to stay below audibility, guarded by a new silence integrity test. - The compressor test report described two circuits with incorrect topology terms. The descriptions now match the measured circuits, and all circuit, EQ, and transformer explanations across the manual and the built-in guide have been verified against the actual implementations. - User documentation and website descriptions of features updated to be more accurate. Improved: - The dynamics section completed a full physics review: all four compressor circuits were measured against the behavior their hardware classes predict, including release curve shapes, ratio behavior under drive, knee character, stereo link behavior, and distortion under gain reduction, and certified without requiring sound changes. - New automated test coverage: control isolation tests proving every knob and button affects only its own parameter, AGE position fingerprints, ratio behavior curves for every circuit, fourth band response and band interaction tests, switching stress tests, and silence integrity after playback stops. - Full backward compatibility: all new controls default to the exact previous behavior. Existing sessions and presets load and sound identical to version 1.6.3. v1.6.3 - 2026-08-05 - Session Recall Integrity Fixed: - Reopening a saved session could load a slightly different variation seed per Sphinx instance, than the one the project was saved with. The saved seed is now applied in full on restore. Duplicating a track still clones the unit as before. Improved: - Internal documentation corrections. Current analog emulation in version 1.6.3: Transformer physics: 1. Jiles-Atherton magnetic hysteresis with flux integration - the core is driven by integrated flux (V/f law), producing frequency-dependent saturation that matches real iron 2. Four core material models with distinct saturation curves, permeability, coercivity, and remanence per material class 3. Winding asymmetry producing even-order harmonics whose magnitude varies with transformer model 4. Bias-DC flux walk - program-dependent DC magnetisation offset producing session-responsive even harmonics 5. Remanence - the core retains a fraction of its magnetisation during silence, starting each new phrase from a non-zero magnetic state 6. State-domain Bertotti dynamic core loss - eddy current and excess loss terms that resist rapid flux changes like physical friction in the iron 7. Signal-dependent copper winding loss with thermal DCR rise over the session 8. LC resonance from leakage inductance and winding capacitance, per model, entering the measurable band at high sample rates 9. Signal-presence-gated demagnetisation with remanence target 10. Inter-transformer magnetic coupling through chassis proximity Power supply: 11. Shared rail sag with asymmetric attack and release, soft-clamp asymptotes on seven consumer sites 12. Conduction-gated reservoir ripple with rectifier harmonics and mains frequency selection (50/60 Hz) 13. Differential per-channel rail sag under asymmetric stereo 14. Series-pass voltage regulator model with per-topology PSRR 15. Signed ground-return injection carrying the signal fundamental through per-topology chassis impedance Active electronics: 16. Ebers-Moll BJT with Class-AB crossover emphasis and thermal junction bias shift 17. Koren vacuum tube with grid-current blocking at millisecond charge rate and hundred-millisecond discharge 18. Child-Langmuir 3/2 power-law diode detector 19. VCA with control-voltage feedthrough and class-AB low-level crossover distortion per manufacturing grade 20. Jiles-Atherton EQ inductor hysteresis with genuine path-dependent inductance modulation 21. Capacitor dielectric absorption with multi-time-constant charge re-release per dielectric type 22. Per-topology amplifier slew-rate limiting 23. AC-coupled output path - gain-cell DC offsets never reach the output, whether the output transformer is engaged or not, matching hardware output coupling Dynamics: 24. Variable-Mu feedback compressor with gain-reduction-coupled harmonic generation 25. Program-responsive HF soft clipping in Tube and DPX modes Environment: 26. Cross-channel crosstalk with frequency-dependent shaping 27. Per-instance manufacturing tolerance variation from seed 28. Filtered-noise 1/f thermal drift, aperiodic and per-instance 29. Program-responsive thermal self-heat with fanout to transformer permeability, transistor bias, tube transconductance, and core loop parameters (k, a, c) 30. Physical component warm-up on instance creation 31. Current-scaled shot noise on five Class-A device stages 32. Per-topology 1/f noise spectral shaping across the full audio bandwidth 33. Channel-independent noise floors - each channel draws its own noise stream while the stereo pair shares matched component tolerances, so the floor sums to mono and nulls the way two real devices do 34. True Gaussian noise statistics - the modeled thermal floor carries the statistics of real thermal noise rather than a uniform digital approximation v1.6.2 - 2026-08-02 - Stereo Noise Independence, True Gaussian Floor, Output Integrity Fixed: - Compressor VCA pairs shared a single noise stream between the left and right channels, so the plugin's idle noise floor was effectively mono. Each channel now carries its own independent noise, the way two real matched VCAs hiss independently while still matching in component tolerances. Affected the SLL and Amok compressor circuits across all three dynamics modules: Compressor, Sub compressor, and HF Compressor. - With the output transformer disabled, a small DC offset from the compressor gain cells could reach the plugin output. That path is now AC-coupled the way a real console output is, dropping the offset from measurable to below -160 dBFS. The sound with the output transformer enabled is bit-identical to v1.6.1. Improved: - The noise floor now has true Gaussian statistics, matching real thermal. The previous generator was measurably too uniform under forensic analysis, even though the difference was inaudible. - Stereo behavior of the noise floor is now physically correct: summing to mono lowers the floor by the 3 dB expected from two independent sources, and a left-minus-right null no longer cancels the floor to silence the way no hardware pair ever would. v1.6.1 - 2026-08-01 - Deep Iron, HF Softclip and Maney fixes, Improved physics Fixed: - Maney circuits fixed. Voltages were slightly off resulting in too hard saturation and muddiness. Now fixed with more physics-realistic clarity. Active across all three dynamics modules: Compressor, Sub compressor, and HF Compressor. - HF Softclip TUBE circuit fixed. Voltages were slightly off resulting in too hard saturation and muddiness. Now fixed with more physics-realistic clarity. - HF Softclip TUBE mode barely reacted on real program material. The gain computer was anchored to a 10 kHz sine fixture that sits roughly 25 dB above real music's HF band energy, so on actual tracks the module produced zero measurable gain reduction at every threshold setting. Now Tube mode now provides genuine program-responsive HF compression comparable in authority to DPX mode. - User presets were cleared along with new updates - now fixed, presets remain. - HF Softclip TUBE mode threshold knob's bottom quarter was dead. An internal drive map saturated at knob position -12, making -12 through -18 identical. - VCA low-level distortion model produced a gain boost where it should have produced a THD ratio rise. The old formula was a 1/x gain curve instead of a constant-distortion-floor model. - Maney feedback compressor detector had a sample-domain blend that created a comb filter. Moved to envelope-domain blend where phase-coherent addition cannot occur. - Preset loading could produce a brief click when the fade armed after parameter writes instead of before. - Bypass state machine could freeze if bypass toggled during a personality or tier switch. - Width and space controls were unsmoothed under automation. - Nevy and Maney compressor release-floor counters were not rescaled on sample rate or oversampling changes, causing the release phase to jump if the rate changed mid-compression. - Lots of documentation and website updates. New: - Amplifier slew-rate limiting per topology. Real console amplifiers have finite slew rates that soft-clip on very fast transients. SLL is the fastest, Amok the slowest. Transparent at normal operating levels, audible only on extreme transients where real hardware would exhibit Transient Intermodulation. - Transformer LC resonance from leakage inductance and winding capacitance. Each core model has its own resonant peak at the physically correct frequency. - Signal-dependent copper winding loss. The voltage drop across real transformer windings increases with signal current. Negligible at the operating level, audible as a subtle level-dependent attenuation under hard drive. Per-model coefficients from winding resistance. The loss also increases with accumulated session heat, matching how real copper DCR rises with temperature. - VCA class-AB low-level crossover distortion. Real VCA cores produce higher THD at very low signal levels from the class-AB crossover in the gain cell. Per-grade coefficients model the spread between precision and standard parts. - Thermal dependence of the transformer's core loop parameters. As program heat accumulates, the coercive force drops, domain walls become more thermally active, and the core becomes slightly more reversible. Three parameters shift with the thermal envelope alongside the existing permeability drift. - Filtered-noise 1/f thermal drift replacing the previous periodic modulation. The component parameter drift now follows a genuine aperiodic 1/f spectrum seeded per instance rather than repeating at fixed intervals. Indistinguishable from real ambient-coupled hardware drift. Improved: - Transformer hysteresis dramatically deepened. The core's reversibility parameter has been pushed toward published literature values for each material class, with compensating pinning-field adjustment to maintain solver stability. The B-H loop fill factor increased roughly five times. The harmonic character now emerges from the magnetic loop itself rather than from a supplementary polynomial on a nearly linear core. - All circuit, topology, and TrueRail tier switching is now gap-free. Transitions crossfade through a latency-matched dry reference instead of fading through silence. The music never drops out, even briefly. - Bypass transitions are now gap-free using the same dry-crossfade technique. - BJT thermal bias shift now moves in the physically correct direction at calibrated magnitude. - All dynamics threshold controls now smoothed under automation across all four module types. - Transformer demag/remanence phase-response guard rebuilt from scratch to separate the physical phase lag of deep hysteresis from the artifact it was originally built to catch. The new guard fences the artifact's signature rather than its magnitude, allowing the core to carry honest magnetic loss-angle lag for the first time. - Parameter update cascade moved off the audio thread. Current analog emulation in version 1.6.1: Transformer physics: 1. Jiles-Atherton magnetic hysteresis with flux integration - the core is driven by integrated flux (V/f law), producing frequency-dependent saturation that matches real iron 2. Four core material models with distinct saturation curves, permeability, coercivity, and remanence per material class 3. Winding asymmetry producing even-order harmonics whose magnitude varies with transformer model 4. Bias-DC flux walk - program-dependent DC magnetisation offset producing session-responsive even harmonics 5. Remanence - the core retains a fraction of its magnetisation during silence, starting each new phrase from a non-zero magnetic state 6. State-domain Bertotti dynamic core loss - eddy current and excess loss terms that resist rapid flux changes like physical friction in the iron 7. Signal-dependent copper winding loss with thermal DCR rise over the session 8. LC resonance from leakage inductance and winding capacitance, per model, entering the measurable band at high sample rates 9. Signal-presence-gated demagnetisation with remanence target 10. Inter-transformer magnetic coupling through chassis proximity Power supply: 11. Shared rail sag with asymmetric attack and release, soft-clamp asymptotes on seven consumer sites 12. Conduction-gated reservoir ripple with rectifier harmonics and mains frequency selection (50/60 Hz) 13. Differential per-channel rail sag under asymmetric stereo 14. Series-pass voltage regulator model with per-topology PSRR 15. Signed ground-return injection carrying the signal fundamental through per-topology chassis impedance Active electronics: 16. Ebers-Moll BJT with Class-AB crossover emphasis and thermal junction bias shift 17. Koren vacuum tube with grid-current blocking at millisecond charge rate and hundred-millisecond discharge 18. Child-Langmuir 3/2 power-law diode detector 19. VCA with control-voltage feedthrough and class-AB low-level crossover distortion per manufacturing grade 20. Jiles-Atherton EQ inductor hysteresis with genuine path-dependent inductance modulation 21. Capacitor dielectric absorption with multi-time-constant charge re-release per dielectric type 22. Per-topology amplifier slew-rate limiting Dynamics: 23. Variable-Mu feedback compressor with gain-reduction-coupled harmonic generation 24. Program-responsive HF soft clipping in Tube and DPX modes Environment: 25. Cross-channel crosstalk with frequency-dependent shaping 26. Per-instance manufacturing tolerance variation from seed 27. Filtered-noise 1/f thermal drift, aperiodic and per-instance 28. Program-responsive thermal self-heat with fanout to transformer permeability, transistor bias, tube transconductance, and core loop parameters (k, a, c) 29. Physical component warm-up on instance creation 30. Current-scaled shot noise on five Class-A device stages 31. Per-topology 1/f noise spectral shaping across the full audio bandwidth v1.6.0 - 2026-07-29 - Transformer Physics, Stability, Precision Improved: - Transformers now respond to frequency the way real iron does. The core is driven by the time integral of the applied voltage rather than the voltage itself, so a low note pushes the core far harder than a high note at the same level. Harmonic content is strongest at the bottom and falls away toward the top, instead of sitting flat across the band. - Transformer harmonic voicing restored and refined. The second-harmonic content that gives the midband its presence, definition and instrument separation is at full strength across the band, with the low end keeping the extra weight the new physics gives it. - Power supply ripple is now identical at every sample rate and oversampling setting. Previously the ripple amplitude drifted by up to 12 dB across the supported grid. - EQ inductors now have real magnetic memory. The core follows a full hysteresis loop rather than a one-way curve, so the inductance depends on where the signal has been, not just where it is now. - Ground return and power rail modelling reworked. The chassis return current now carries the signal fundamental rather than only its even harmonics, matching how a real shared ground couples between stages. - Thermal self-heating now responds to program material in real time. Component parameters - transformer permeability, transistor bias voltage, tube transconductance - shift subtly with accumulated heat, the way a real console settles into its operating character during a session. - Plugin warm-up time reduced to near-instant. A fresh instance reaches full operating character in under a second instead of the previous several seconds. - Grid-current blocking on tube stages reacts faster and harder. A loud transient now drives the grid into realistic bias shift within milliseconds, with recovery over about 100 ms - matching real coupling capacitor behavior. - Tube thermal sag direction corrected - warm tubes now slightly reduce gain instead of increasing it, matching the physics of real vacuum tube circuits. - Noise model extended to full audio bandwidth. The 1/f noise floor now tracks correctly to the highest frequencies instead of flattening at the top of the spectrum. - Stereo crosstalk levels refined for a better balance between audible character and realistic magnitude across all three console topologies. - Cross-platform precision. Every per-sample library math call on the audio path has been replaced with a deterministic equivalent. Mac and Windows builds produce identical output. - Fifteen simultaneous analog modeling mechanisms, up from twelve. Added program-responsive noise floor, tube transient sag, and inter-transformer magnetic coupling. - Test suite expanded and hardened with 2,420 measurements across 13 suites, zero failures. Output transformer phase-response probe added to the automated release gate. Fixed: - All module circuit selectors (EQ type, compressor type, filter type, transformer model, HF mode) now switch click-free. Previously, switching mid-program could produce an audible discontinuity. - Preset loading is now click-free. A brief crossfade completes before new settings apply. - Output termination switching (600/150/Open) now transitions smoothly instead of stepping the filter coefficients. - Warm-up state no longer resets when the host stops and restarts transport, or when the oversampling rate changes. Once the console is warm, it stays warm. - Compressor and detector envelopes no longer briefly re-attack after an oversampling change under heavy gain reduction. - HF soft clipper crossover frequency now transitions smoothly under automation. Previously, rapid automation of the crossover could produce faint stepping artifacts. - Linked compressor mode on the fourth topology now correctly detects anti-phase stereo content that was previously invisible to the detector. - Plugin GUI improvements - new transformer graphics, improved overall clarity, knob animation fixes. - Output termination button renamed from TERM to OHM for clarity. v1.5.2 - 2026-07-23 - Deep Physics, New Controls, Auth Fix Added: - Mains frequency selector (50 Hz / 60 Hz) into the top bar - switches the power supply model between European 100 Hz and American 120 Hz full-wave ripple. Subtle character difference on fade tails and quiet passages. Default is 50 Hz. - Output termination selector (600 / 150 / Open) in the top bar - changes how the output transformer sees its load. 600 is the studio standard (default). 150 is heavier loading with tighter bass. Open lets the transformer ring freely for maximum iron character. - Circuit selector click areas on all module faceplates - click the circuit name labels directly instead of turning the rotary switch. Works on Filter, Sub Comp, HF Comp, HF SoftClip, Compressor, EQ, and both transformers. - Signal-dependent noise floor - shot noise in the drive transistors, tubes, and compressor gain elements now scales with signal current. The noise floor breathes with program level instead of sitting at a fixed amplitude. - Capacitor dielectric absorption on coupling stages - after DC transients, coupling capacitors slowly re-release a fraction of their stored charge. Per-topology fractions match real component types (film caps on SLL, electrolytic on Nevy). - Grid-current blocking distortion on tube stages - loud asymmetric transients push the tube grid positive, causing a momentary negative bias shift and brief gain reduction. The classic "tube sag after a loud hit" effect. - Inter-transformer magnetic coupling - a small fraction of the input transformer's magnetization state feeds into the output transformer's applied field, the way fringing flux couples between iron cores mounted on the same chassis. Improved: - Pultey EQ now uses separate boost and cut signal paths with different Q values - the famous simultaneous boost/cut interaction emerges naturally from the circuit topology instead of a static approximation. The classic shelf-plus-scoop is now physically real. - Nevy compressor gain element replaced with a four-diode Shockley bridge model - produces authentic even-harmonic content from per-diode manufacturing variation that the previous polynomial approximation could not generate. - EQ inductor saturation now uses Jiles-Atherton magnetic modeling - the same physics engine as the transformers. Inductance swings with signal level, shifting the resonant frequency under heavy boost. Six inductor instances across three bands. - Power supply model completed - the ripple waveform now uses a physical reservoir capacitor with conduction-window gating (per-topology rectifier angles), load-modulated discharge depth, and differential per-channel sag. Left and right channels interact with the supply independently under asymmetric stereo program. - Ground-return injection - total bus current through per-topology ground impedance creates a subliminal program-correlated bus tone, the shared-ground character of real console wiring. - Physical warm-up and thermal self-heating tendency now shortened as much as possible. The plugin starts slightly "cold" and settles into its operating character over the first minute, exactly like powering on a real console. Component parameters (transformer permeability, transistor bias, tube transconductance) shift subtly with accumulated program heat. - Transformer flux walk strengthened to first-principles scale - the bias-coupling mechanism is now audibly program-responsive on sustained asymmetric material. - SLL topology now models Class-AB crossover emphasis - subtle odd-harmonic texture at low signal levels from the push-pull dead band, invisible at the operating sweet spot. - Rail consumer clamps replaced with smooth asymptotes on seven internal sites - extreme-drive behavior compresses rather than freezing. - Vacuum diode detector restored to canonical Child-Langmuir square-law response - transient detection is grabbier and more faithful to hardware variable-mu character. - Sub Comp and HF Comp per-channel shelves completed - unlinked (L/R) mode now applies truly independent gain reduction per channel, matching the popup guide description. - Circuit switching now uses an extended mute-through-swap crossfade for seamless topology transitions with no audible level jumps. - Cross-platform deterministic math on all per-sample transcendentals. - Test coverage expanded to over 2,400 measurements with mechanism-specific verification gates for all new physics. Fixed: - HFSoftClip Tube mode GR meters now react dynamically to signal content. The meter shows the shelf-cut depth weighted by live HF drive - dark in quiet passages, pulsing with HF transients, deeper with lower threshold. - Authorization activation reliability - in rare cases on certain host configurations, the plugin could display "Licensed" while the demo silence remained active until the next DAW restart. The activation state now publishes immediately and reliably across all hosts and platforms. - Output termination selector correctly cycles through all three states with distinct visual feedback. - Stale code comments and documentation claims corrected across the codebase - over thirty in-file comments updated to match current behavior. - User manual and popup guide updated for new controls, generalized harmonic descriptions, corrected parameter count, and mains-selectable ripple frequency. - Published test reports fixed - a couple of wrong names for listed results. v1.5.1 - 2026-07-20 - Big Signal Physics Improvements Added: - Side-chained dynamic modules' gain reductions now saturate correct THD amounts - harmonic distortion was too low previously. - NaN protection - improves stability against sudden corrupted audio data streams. - Routing buttons in plugin GUI are now click-sound free. Fixed: - Plugin instance creation variation seed was too large - harmonic behavior varied too much between Sphinx instances. Variations and component tolerance differences are now more realistic to differences between real-life hardware units. - PSU's microscopic voltage ripple logic corrected to more realistic rectifier harmonics. - VCA compressor distortion now scales correctly with gain reduction. - Transformers' even-harmonic content is now more program-responsive. - BJT transistors' operating point corrected to physics-accurate bias voltage. - JA transformer solver math corrected for improved numerical accuracy at the integration boundary. v1.5.0 - 2026-07-18 - New GUI Design & Improved Physics & Bug Fixes Added: - New GUI design. - Magnetic memory added to Output Transformer - both TXs now have time-based reactivity. - Power regulators from common hardware designs - TrueRail breathes more realistically as it sags/returns. Improved presence, 3D sound, and general response. - Real-life electric grid 50/60 Hz microscopic variations now feed circuits and components, bringing harmonics and increased chaotic randomness. Fixed: - Root cause of pop spikes on plugin instance load: DC voltage component was not properly initialized, causing a signal jump. - Documentation updates. - Backend improvements for memory handling. Multiple potential problem sources fixed for improved stability. v1.4.3 - 2026-07-16 - Click Fix & Universal Installers Added: - Universal Mac installers for AU (Silicon + Intel) and VST3 (Silicon + Intel). Old single-format installers kept available. Fixed: - Possible click noise when bypassing modules - signal path now has a 5 ms fade-in for state changes. v1.4.2 - 2026-07-14 - TrueRail Tweak Fixed: - Bypassed modules were still affecting the main voltage rail slightly - mechanical paths and voltage rails now have more realistic current separation. v1.4.1 - 2026-07-13 - Refcount Fix Fixed: - When both AU and VST3 plugins were loaded in the same session, they shared memory incorrectly and caused crash conditions. Now independent instances. v1.4.0 - 2026-07-13 - Performance & TrueRail Fixed: - Big improvements to responsiveness and loading times from further reduced unnecessary background tasks. - Improved voltage rail wiring and circuit physics. Completed circuits' and modules' interconnected wiring. Added voltage regulator circuits from real-life hardware. - Fixed crash-prone issues on more uncommon setups. v1.3.2 - 2026-07-10 - Memory Leak Fix Fixed: - Graphic LED elements were drawn using non-optimal methods, causing slowly accumulating memory usage and visual problems - now using a lighter image draw method. v1.3.1 - 2026-07-10 - Faster Visual Appearances Fixed: - Much faster plugin loading times and visual appearances - removed unnecessary background loading and re-loading tasks which caused multi-second wait times. v1.3.0 - 2026-07-09 - New Requested Features Added: - Channel L/R unlink buttons for dynamic modules - fully analog dual-path in split mode. - Dual Gain Reduction LED rows (L/R) for dynamic modules - shows independent channel GR amounts in split mode. - Preset manager inside the plugin. - Noise ON/OFF button for component-level background noise. Fixed: - Improved GUI touch areas for small buttons. - Small GUI tweaks and knob rotation fixes. - Documentation updates. v1.2.0 - 2026-07-02 - Mac VST3 Version Added: - First macOS VST3 version available - Apple Silicon and Intel formats. Fixed: - Small graphical GUI fixes. v1.1.3 - 2026-06-30 - Visual Fixes & Better Stability Fixed: - GUI knobs could become slow and laggy on some setups - knobs were doing unnecessary background work and filling up short memories, causing 2-4 s reaction times. - Improved support for slightly older PC processors to avoid plugin failing to start. - Other GUI visual fixes. v1.1.2 - 2026-06-28 - Visual Improvements Improved: - Increased contrast and better fonts for faceplate texts - much improved readability. - Improved plugin loading times from smaller compressed image files. - Faster switching between the two GUI skins - images no longer re-loaded on every switch. - Added a small fade-in on plugin load to avoid startup pops or clicks. Fixed: - Pop-up user guide showed different content lengths with different GUI size options - now sizes dynamically and shows all content. v1.1.1 - 2026-06-25 - Oversampling Enhancements & TrueRail Improvements Improved: - Oversampling now operates in minimum phase mode instead of linear phase. Linear phase had improved phase response but greater latency and pre-ringing artifacts - minimum phase preserves transients and punch. - TrueRail improvements: SLL main circuit sounds more real-life HiFi with more headroom and definition, while Nevy and especially Amok main circuits breathe and glue more, as expected from their hardware counterparts. - New report files and graphs for continuous transparency about the plugin's current state. v1.1.0 - 2026-06-22 - New Oversampling Improved: - Entire plugin audio signal path now wrapped in a single oversampler (input to output), instead of just the noisiest modules. Aliasing amounts dropped massively. Oversampling factor (2x, 4x, 8x, 16x) selectable to taste. Higher settings use more CPU. - Documentation updated to reflect new oversampling implementation. v1.0.5 - 2026-06-21 Fixed: - Oversampling documentation clarified - oversampling is forced only in modules that produce the most harmonics; less audible aliasing modules are not oversampled to save CPU. Next update will wrap the whole plugin in a single oversampler. - Test reports were giving partial result data, leading to incorrect published aliasing values - corrected and expanded for accuracy. - TrueRail had internal functions waiting to be enabled - module and part interconnection wiring is now more complete and interactive. v1.0.4 - 2026-06-20 Fixed: - Enabled all noise types for the noisiest components (VCA mainly) - some below-audible noise types were previously disabled; now all enabled for more consistent behavior and hardware feel. Added a new noise report for tracking this behavior over time. - Major documentation updates - corrected many inconsistencies. - Installer clean-up routine fixes. Improved: - Signal calculation differences between PC and Mac further reduced by enforcing the same math-type functions on both platforms. v1.0.3 - 2026-06-18 Improved: - Cross-platform floating-point harmonization (FMA-type enforcement) for internal calculations - reduced below-audible signal differences between PC and Mac. WIP. v1.0.2 - 2026-06-18 Fixed: - Architectural timing bug in rail current accumulation - current drawn from the input transformer and drive stage was lumped as a per-buffer bolus instead of being fed to the rail smoother at correct per-sample timing. Now handled by a central controller. - Popup sound at instance load managed with a short fade-in. - Documentation updates regarding SLL/Amok compressors and Amok topology using T5670 instead of 12AX7. - Images and website updated. v1.0.1 - 2026-06-16 - PC Fix Fixed: - PC version had a missing DLL related to activation encryption - plugin would not start. Now included in the package. - Mac version-bumped to match - no changes. v1.0.0 - 2026-06-16 Fixed: - Mac versions (Silicon + Intel) were missing a file that Homebrew-equipped macOS environments provided - without it the plugin would not start. Now included in the package. - PC version-bumped to match - no changes. v0.9.9 - 2026-06-06 Added: - Per-knob undo: holding ALT/OPTION and clicking any value knob returns it to its position before the latest change. Fixed: - Documentation fixes. v0.9.8 - 2026-06-06 Added: - Holding SHIFT while turning main input or output gain knob now compensates the other knob - quick way to test overdriving the input stage. - Double-clicking value knobs allows typing in values with keyboard. Improved: - Better-looking value fields over knobs. v0.9.7 - 2026-06-04 Added: - Windows VST3 and installer now signed. Note: SmartScreen reputation improves over time, so alerts become fewer - proceed by clicking "More Info" if prompted. Improved: - Updated URLs in plugin activation/deactivation popups. - Policy updates on website. v0.9.4-v0.9.6 - 2026-06-03 Added: - Mac Intel version - ported from Apple Silicon version (untested at time of release). - Massive improvements to internal oversampling - phase responses now correct. - More user-friendly install locations for all Installer Wizard files and documentation. - Social media channels launched: Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, Discord, LinkedIn. Improved: - Improved Installer Wizard pre-cleanup routines for Mac and Windows. - Updated content for User Manual, in-app guide, installers, website, and social media. v0.9.3 - 2026-05-27 Improved: - Automation fixes - previously read-only, now also writes. - Apple AudioUnit Validation fixes. v0.9.2 - 2026-05-25 Added: - Windows VST3 support. Note: installer not yet signed - plugin may not be found automatically by DAW. - Full test result files now included with both Mac and Windows installers. Improved: - AutoGain intelligence fine-tuned for better accuracy. - User Guide and in-app guide updates. v0.9.1 - 2026-05-25 Added: - Better installer/uninstaller behavior. - Version number shown in activation popup (GUI). Improved: - Internal code structure improvements. v0.9.0 - 2026-05-25 Added: - First beta test version for Mac AU. Installer and plugin Apple-signed.